Saturday, February 23, 2013

Back to Basics ~ Thrifting

When comes to treasures and thrifting, here is my thoughts for this year:

Thrifting is fun for me. It literally is one of my favorite hobbies. I get a lot of enjoyment from it and yes, it is a form of therapy.

There, I said it. I am being straightforward with no shame! LOL

However, having said that, I also know that I have to be responsible regarding thrifting and treasures. (Sometimes don’t you just hate being an adult and have to be responsible? Me too!)

Thrifting ~ means spending money. Even if it is just a little bit. It is still money. I need to be saving money, making money and not spend money. So, I have to be responsible and evaluate when thrifting.

Thrifting does make me happy and brings me some fun and joy. I recently have learned how important that is. Of course I have always known that but, to live it makes it really hit home! And just to make this very clear (for anyone who is tempted to say something like, “you can’t find real happiness in material things”), my joy comes from the actual thrifting. Not from owning or keeping things. I know this and that is why I am going to continue, even more stringently, selling, throwing away or donating.

Recognizing the difference between WANTS and NEEDS.

WANTS are okay. We are human and we all want certain things. It’s natural. And they can bring us joy. But, they won’t bring us true joy if it hurts our family or home.

NEEDS are things we have to have for whatever reason. I try to thrift NEEDS as much as possible. That way I have a little extra money for WANTS or other NEEDS. A recent example of this is our business. We need office supplies. But, to me, they don’t have to be expensive retail supplies. A three ring binder is just a three ring binder. I don’t care what it looks like or who makes it. I just need it to be functional. Starting off a new year, I needed more binders for our business. Here they are at Office Max…

(this is for a 3’ binder. Binders seem to start around $2.50 and then just go up from there)

No can do buckaroo! I have to save money on things like this. So, I headed to the thrift stores.

3 of them came with dividers, pockets etc.

Yellow sticker day made each of these .34 cents! Huge savings from buying retail. By saving, it allows me to keep more money in my business account for things that come up that I can’t thrift.

Letting go of the Unnecessary & Reevaluating ~ Am I ready to pass this treasure along for someone else to enjoy? I try not to get attached to things. I enjoy them for what they are at the moment. I use them, play with them and smile. But, it is no longer necessary for me to keep each of these things. I will always have fun finding other new to me treasures. Is it time to let someone else use them, play with them and smile?

Creating more time ~ This is a biggie! I am not referring to the time spent thrifting. I am referring to the time spent dealing with my thrifted treasures. Once I have used them and played with them and enjoyed them, where do they go? Do I have a specific spot for them? Am I having to “make” room for them and therefore taking up valuable space that is actually needed for something else? You may be asking how these things equal Creating more time. Let’s talk about that. How much time do you spend trying to create more space for your treasures? Are you having to juggle this and that around in order to store these items? Are you taking up valuable space that could and should be used for something else in your home? Are you paying to store it?

An example: How many times have you bought something, loved it, used it and really wanted to keep it for future use. But, you had to box it up and it ended up getting loss in all the stuff. So, not only can you not use it again because you can’t find it but, often you end up having to repurchase the same or similar item. I would love to say that this has never happened to me but, I would be a big ‘ol liar if I did.

Not only does time equal money, it means you are taking time away from more important things.

So getting Back to Basics (BTB) means all these concepts to me when it comes to thrifting : Reprioritizing, Letting go of the unnecessary, Creating more time, Enjoying what I have, Reevaluating and Simplify.

I am updating the old rule, “For everything you bring into your home, you must get rid of one thing.” I am going to get rid of TWO things for every one thing I keep. It can be something as simple as getting rid of a book or magazine. It will help me stay on top of not “gathering things”.

Am I going to continue to thrift? Of course I am! But, I will keep my “BTB” in mind. So, that is why 2013 will be my letting go of treasures year. It’s time to simplify.

19 comments:

I totally agree! I love to go to estate and garage sales, but I'm shopping for items for my Etsy shop (although I've been known to buy something for myself too!) So the idea is to sell it, not keep it! But I do have to store it until that time! Right now I have much, much more on my shelves than in the shop, so I'm not buying until I get that stuff listed!! It's hard to stay away from the estate sales though!Yay for thrift store binders!!

As i read your post I thinking this is exactly how I feel. i love thrifting, hehe I'd probably say I find it therapeutic too and have been trying to buy more needs this year and just declutter... No buying just because it's cheap! Thanks, i really enjoyed reading this post :)

Smart thinking, We're filling the back of our pick up truck to take to the local flea market, and what doesn't sell will be dropped off at the DAV thrift store on the way home. I love thrifting myself, so purging now and then is the only way to do it! Love your post!

I agree with you completely! I have been dealing with this since I started blogging and wondering what do I do with all the stuff I create? What purpose will it serve after I am done showing my post. So I look for items that have multiple uses and add some craft projects with it. I also agree that it is the joy of thrifting and creating that fulfills me the most, although finding that rare special treasure does bring me joy as well. I have limited storage space so I plan on repurposing my finds so my collections don't overtake my space. Very helpful post. Thanks for sharing this!

I loved this post and the finds on the binders were excellent...Ive just started thrifting and Im glad you posted this.. Its helped me to put things in perspective.. I will ask myself these questions before purchasing because like you I am supposed to be saving not spending. Thank you again :) Robyn

Diann, this is a great post and you have put into words what I have had on my heart for a while. I LOVE thrifting, too. But the pile of stuff I have accumulated has weighed me down of late. I am delighted that today I finally took some stuff to the thrift shop. I had to circle the block three times before I could find a spot and finally had to double-park in the parking lot to unload. I had planned to shop, too, but the lack of parking stopped me. It was probably a good thing! :)

Here here, very well said! And I totally agree with you. I haven't been able to go thrifting/garage saling since we separated. No extra money, we do without. I miss it sooo much. But it is helping me go thru my treasure pile and use up what I have..that's a good thing. Once I get this divorce, if I ever do, I am having the biggest yard sale in history. Clean this house out. And not just the house, the attic! Yuck and ick but there are things up there we have all forgotten about. If we haven't used them in 8 yrs we don't need them!Why did I keep all the kids toys from when they were little? their not going to want them when they leave home. I don't think anyway...my parents saved mine and I wanted them once I started having kids. But these days, I think they are more interested in newer electronic games. the the very first vtech they ever made. LOL

Oh hon, you know I love to find such special things and yeah, a therapy which is not expensive and it also stays home to make us happy when we see it, or use them! Now I'm choosing things I really love, or I give it away later for thrifting on an impulse...oh well, us women, we're pretty much like that, as men are not really, unless they have a collection..than, they get compulsive!! Thanks for this nice post and for your sweet visit! Hugs,FABBY

Hi lovely lady.You have a Beautiful Blog you did a lovely job putting this one altogether. Thanks so much for your sweet comments on my new post for St. Patrick's Day. Hoping you and your family have a wonderful week.XXOO Diane

Diann this post really hits home with me. I know how much I love the thrill of the hunt and the bargain but I also know I can't keep everything. I also bought a lot of items with the plan to resell them,but that didn't happen really. I've sold a few things but found it really too much work for so little profit. So now I'm purging! It feels so good and It makes room for 'new' stuff. At first I had a hard time just getting rid of things I bought, you know a 'waste of money'which I was not brought up to do. But then I started to realize that thrifting is a form of entertainment to me. Others may go to a theme park or go to concerts or see movies in the theater($$) and they have little to show for it other then enjoyment! So it makes the money I spent thrifting easier to not worry about recouping! Also the items will go back to the thrift stores that support causes I really care about. It's more of a win win for me. I now feel less guilty about getting rid of those plates I used in a tablescape and know i'll never use again. I still have my collections and things I want to keep but now I can let go of things that I don't LOVE! Thank you for joining Gratitude Sunday. I'm grateful for all I've learned from you as a blogger, thrifter and especially as a friend. Hugs, Linda

DiAnn, Thanks for stopping by but all the compliments Joe is getting is giving him a very big head!! LOL!!I have cut down on what I do buy and do not buy a lot like I used to. I try to re-evaluate the things that I do have every so often and then I choose some pieces to recycle and donate them to our church flea market to make room for new things thst I can not live without!! LOL!!

This is great and I agree that it's the actual hunt that's therapy, not necessarily the purchase! :) Thanks for linking up this past week. I'll have the new party up later this afternoon and would love to have you back!